What ails you?

[Kai Lord]

Hey fellas,

I tore a disc in my spine moving furniture in September. I was carrying one end of a couch up a flight of stairs and the guy on the other end below me stopped abruptly to adjust his grip without warning causing me to lurch forward with the full wait of the couch in my grip. Pow! Piercing pain through my back, and three months and several visits to the chiropractor have not given any permanent relief so far.

Its been tough to deal with, I have pain almost every day, but otherwise I have a *ton* of great things going for me in my life. I just don't want to focus on the negative so I thought I'd open up a thread to take the focus off of me and see if anyone else has any physical afflictions they want to share.

I'm curious as to what others might be going through and whether or not anything can be done to encourage one another.

Anyone else plagued by a particular thorn in their side? Or back? Or knee, etc.?

 

[kenobi65]

Ah, old gaming geeks, comparing afflictions.

My personal burden is arthritis; it's an issue I've had since my teenage years. It's not crippling (well, not yet, anyway; I know people who have it far worse), but this is the time of year when it really starts to bother me. My right knee is the worst -- it'll pretty much hurt from now until spring, and it sort of gives out on me every now and again. The other knee, the right ankle, and the wrists have also joined into the arthritic fun in recent years.

 

[Desdichado]

I don't get enough sleep. And I'm not in the greatest shape these days. Overall that combines to give me consistent headaches and odd soreness throughout my body (most notably in my shoulders in my shins, for whatever reason.)

But since those are minor inconveniences, and are 90% or more my own fault, I don't typically complain about them much.

 

[EricNoah]

I know I need to exercise more, I just don't do it. At work I'm thinking "God I wish I could go do aerobics or ride a bike or something." And then by the time I get home I feel like just resting. I'm doing oky diet and weight wise, and even a little exercise would really help kick my health into high gear. I just ... gotta do it...

 

[Hand of Evil]

ankylosing spondylitis a rumintiod arthritis, it is a freezing of the spinal cord and while that is painful it has a off-the-wall side effect is that every now and then I will go blind (normally one eye), which is very painful and has only been helped by Cortisone shots into the eye. I have been dealing with it for 20 years now.

 

[der_kluge]

About the only real problem I have is acid reflux. Something I've dealt with since High School, where I was (apparently) misdiagnosed as having a hiatal hernia via an upper GI. This year, I had an orthoscopy and it showed that that wasn't the case, so I've been living a lie for the past 11 years! Not that it matters much, when I was 17 years old, I had ulcers, and they can still see the scarring from that. Just no real idea what caused them. Wasn't like I was really stressed in high school or anything. I take Prevacid daily, though, and will have to for the rest of my life. Zantac is like candy to me.

 

[Treebore]

I am a 100% disabled vet and so is my wife, now, since the Spinal Meningitis she had last December has damaged the part of her brain that controls her cardio-vascular system.

As for keeping a good attitude, the main trick was already touched on. Concentrate on the good things and especially people in your life, and as long as what you are going through is better than being dead, all is good.

If you are in enough pain to wonder if it is better then being dead, well, I was there for over a year. If there is a potential end in sight (breakthrough cure, spontaneous recovery, etc...) hang in there and remember what is good and who wants you to stay. Plus do whatever you can to have fun, even if that is just going outside and feeling the breeze blow across your face (been there).

 

[Ferret]

Sometimes it feels like my heart of the muscles near it twitch. I also have Alergic Rhinitis, so I get to sneeze all year round, coupled with constantly phlegmy throat it isn't fun. I usually just shrug it off.

 

[Umbran]

Other than the need to get some more exercise, I'm physically fine. And I just got married two months ago, so that's all good.

Not having a steady job is less than pleasant, though. Darned difficult to find a permanent teaching position mid-term.

 

[derelictjay]

Well lets see, I was born with flat feet and weak ankles, so will start with the feet. Now babies usually have flat feet when their born and grow out of it, but not my feet no. See the ligaments bind the bones of my feet so poorly that when their outside of a shoe they literally spread out (measuring them I should wear about a size 10, but actually wear a size 12), needless to say going barefoot any length of time is usually a painful experience.

Now on to the weak ankles, which really isn't anything special, but about my sophomore year of high school, I decided I'd do a 360 degree dunk, the ground was sloped and I landed where my weak ankle couldn't support me, so all of a sudden the sole of my shoe was touching the side of my leg, of course I was too tough to goto a doctor, so the next several weeks I was completely unable to run or jump and barely able to walk. Now I frequently have pain in that ankle, plus I have the normal, my ankle fell out from under me again (I fall down alot).